Come On Warhammer – You Can Do Better

Posted by Stropp on February 5, 2008 I have to completely agree with Cameron from Random Battle about the latest Warhammer video clip. The presenter tells us that it's got all sorts of cool stuff in it - it's a minutes worth of glory - cut down from about 30 minutes of video. Guys. You can do better than this. The problem I have with this clip isn't that it's not representative of true PvP or RvR, which is Cameron's beef. It's that this video clip doesn't tell us anything about the game. Well maybe I exaggerate. It does show a bunch of World of Warcraft characters running through the streets, lining up and having a go at each other. But other than that... Again, maybe I'm being unfair. It doesn't matter to me that Warhammer is using the same (similar?) visual style that is used in World of Warcraft. To complain about that is like complaining that anime television shows use the same style. That's a good thing. Anime fans like the look and feel and want to see it in all of their favorites. Same with the WoW style. If it works and the fans like it, it doesn't matter if it's used in other games. The problem is that Warhammer is just months away from release. This is the time to be showing your potential customers what it's all about. If you want me, and ten million other World of Warcraft players, to make the leap over to Warhammer, then you'll need to show me what's different about your game. Showing a bunch of toons running through the streets, lining up, and engaging in mock battles doesn't show me that difference, no matter how dramatic the music. It could be a naked gnome run for what it reveals about Warhammer. I've read a lot in the past that the Warhammer devs have taken great pains to point out that Warhammer is not like World of Warcraft. If that's the case, then please show me the features of your game that are different. For the record, I'm looking forward to Warhammer... sort of. I'm hopeful that the developers have taken the time and effort to make a standout game, a game that will move the MMO genre forward. But at the same time I'm worried that it will be just another WoW clone. Videos like this don't ease those concerns. What do you think? Am I being too harsh here?